A big part of what makes America work is that our rich are largely self-made, and turnover is high. Harp on immigration all you want, but if in 50 years the richest people are still Bezos, Walton, Buffett, and Gates, with little turnover at the top, we'll have the same problems as France and Italy. Luckily, the Vanderbilts, Rockefellers, and Mellons aren't suffocating out country.
This has happened already in the US. I remember being told by county public health to remain in my house or I would have the local sheriff do a "wellness check" on me in the middle of COVID hysteria. Despite the public health risk I supposedly created, hundreds of people were allowed to rampage in the streets and pillage my community because a symbolic derelict was tragically killed by a cop more than a thousand miles away.
Paradoxically, in spite of the war going on beyond our eastern border, Poland is a quiet, safe, and happy place. Why? Controlled migration, mostly good assimilation of migrants (there's really no "no-go" zones in Polish cities) and relatively acceptable wealth disparities. Booming economy also helps ;)
Are the 20 wealthiest families in Poland the same as 100 years ago? Or does Poland have higher turnover like America? Socialism is easier to reject when you have hope of making it.
Well, after WWII and 45 years of Communism there's been a severe discontinuity. The 20 wealthiest families now are fortunes made within the last 35 years, post-1989. So there's a point that Poland is more like young America, entrepreneurship levels are high because people see they have chances of making it. Also the constant economic growth makes people see progress, not stagnation. There's a book by Marcin Piątkowski, "Europe's Growth Champion" about the Polish growth model.
Makes sense. That book is pricey. Poland clearly shows what capitalism vs. authoritarianism (Hungary) can do over decades. Although Poland had/had an energy advantage?
Personally, I'm more afraid of the authoritarianism being promoted by the Trump administration and don't understand why you're more afraid of socialism. Socialism is bad but authoritarianism is already on the doorstep.
And Europe does not have "uncontrolled migration". In fact, they have some of the strictest immigration rules around. You can't even become a citizen of many European countries without having a family relationship. How exactly does that relate?
Finally, Europe isn't a "great nation" as it's a collection of countries. That's a very strange statement.
Happy to give some context as to why I think this. The simple answer is looking at what happens to socialist run places and historic precedent. It always ends poorly. Also socialism should really be looked at as by definition authoritarian.
But more specifically in America's case: DSA vs. MAGA isn’t a no-brainer. We’ve had MAGA for years and America is still standing. I live in a MAGA state, and people move here from progressive places because the economic opportunities are better for them, housing is more affordable etc all the time. Many of them are very liberal and still choose to come..
The far left is pretty objectively far worse than MAGA. I understand why it's hard to see that, it's because their most extreme policies haven’t been implemented. You’re comparing actual right-wing governance with your assumptions about what would happen under an ideology that wants to abolish law enforcement and effectively hand power to murderous mobs in the most powerful country in history. And that's just the start. Their literature is basically a full dismantling of everything that makes our country work. I take them seriously, as everyone else should too
Oh yeah, and the subhead was about France sorry if confusing - I've changed it to “civilization” to be technically correct with the headline
No, you're just preferring your personal narrative.
"America is still standing"? No, sadly. Our institutions are hollowed out, there is unprecedented corruption and a lack of checks and balances. There are literally military groups ripping people out of cars and disappearing them. You just haven't noticed it affect your daily life yet, which is often true of macro changes.
I suspect your opinion of MAGA would be different if you were a class they have targeted, like women or minorities. Your perspective speaks of privilege rather than reality.
Meanwhile, you are focused on another rising threat that also wouldn't affect your daily life immediately. These things take a long time to wear away everything that was built before, and by the time they do it's too late to do anything about it.
I agree socialism is bad and would lead to many very bad things. But you are pretending we don't face immediate and serious risks from the far right which have already arrived. They want you to be angry about another threat to avoid seeing what's happening right in front of you.
I'm optimistic about America. Like Warren Buffett, I think our institutions are resilient and will find balance. On our worst day, I'd still rather live here than in the UK, EU, Canada or Australia. I think we can address any current problems, and in fact there seems to always be will to, whereas other places frequently lack our dynamism. Anyway - genuinely hope our friends in EU can find domestic peace and balance
I am less optimistic about the US, but that's just personal opinions. You're optimistic about MAGA and pessimistic about socialism because that's your personal opinion. That's fine, as long as you admit it's an opinion and not an objective fact.
That's the problem with these articles, is that you play fast and loose with the difference.
"France built an immigration system that allowed nearly unlimited poorly vetted migration. They overwhelmingly refuse to deport even those who come there illegally and pose a risk to citizens or infrastructure, and they did little about the domestic radicalization that followed. Their left-wing radicals gladly partner with the religious radicals coming in. They do this everywhere (and are of course being used, AKA useful idiots)."
The number of dog whistles in your first paragraph is impressive. Immigration, however, has little — even remotely — to do with the cause and escalation of the riots (student protests over school conditions and cost of living, violent police response, protests turning to riots over said police response, agitators attaching themselves to said riots, etc. See: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/19/world/europe/france-protests-riots.html).
Unfortunately, I kept reading. Your entire piece is just a series of aggravated non sequiturs oscillating between immigrants, left wing radicals, socialism, academia, and the fall of civilization. You don't build any real or cogent argument for a position you might be trying to take. Sure, you bring up welfare spending, but there are a lot of countries with high welfare spending with little to no civil unrests (The Nordics, Singapore, etc.). There is no introspection here. There is no curiosity. There are so many euphemisms, so many insinuations, so many calls to fear in this jeremiad that it's honestly disheartening to read.
A big part of what makes America work is that our rich are largely self-made, and turnover is high. Harp on immigration all you want, but if in 50 years the richest people are still Bezos, Walton, Buffett, and Gates, with little turnover at the top, we'll have the same problems as France and Italy. Luckily, the Vanderbilts, Rockefellers, and Mellons aren't suffocating out country.
This has happened already in the US. I remember being told by county public health to remain in my house or I would have the local sheriff do a "wellness check" on me in the middle of COVID hysteria. Despite the public health risk I supposedly created, hundreds of people were allowed to rampage in the streets and pillage my community because a symbolic derelict was tragically killed by a cop more than a thousand miles away.
Paradoxically, in spite of the war going on beyond our eastern border, Poland is a quiet, safe, and happy place. Why? Controlled migration, mostly good assimilation of migrants (there's really no "no-go" zones in Polish cities) and relatively acceptable wealth disparities. Booming economy also helps ;)
Yes Poland is a great case study of success
Are the 20 wealthiest families in Poland the same as 100 years ago? Or does Poland have higher turnover like America? Socialism is easier to reject when you have hope of making it.
Well, after WWII and 45 years of Communism there's been a severe discontinuity. The 20 wealthiest families now are fortunes made within the last 35 years, post-1989. So there's a point that Poland is more like young America, entrepreneurship levels are high because people see they have chances of making it. Also the constant economic growth makes people see progress, not stagnation. There's a book by Marcin Piątkowski, "Europe's Growth Champion" about the Polish growth model.
Makes sense. That book is pricey. Poland clearly shows what capitalism vs. authoritarianism (Hungary) can do over decades. Although Poland had/had an energy advantage?
Energy advantage — in what sense?
Spot on. You have an uncanny ability to write a blog post channeling what I've been thinking all morning, hitting that afternoon.
Personally, I'm more afraid of the authoritarianism being promoted by the Trump administration and don't understand why you're more afraid of socialism. Socialism is bad but authoritarianism is already on the doorstep.
And Europe does not have "uncontrolled migration". In fact, they have some of the strictest immigration rules around. You can't even become a citizen of many European countries without having a family relationship. How exactly does that relate?
Finally, Europe isn't a "great nation" as it's a collection of countries. That's a very strange statement.
Happy to give some context as to why I think this. The simple answer is looking at what happens to socialist run places and historic precedent. It always ends poorly. Also socialism should really be looked at as by definition authoritarian.
But more specifically in America's case: DSA vs. MAGA isn’t a no-brainer. We’ve had MAGA for years and America is still standing. I live in a MAGA state, and people move here from progressive places because the economic opportunities are better for them, housing is more affordable etc all the time. Many of them are very liberal and still choose to come..
The far left is pretty objectively far worse than MAGA. I understand why it's hard to see that, it's because their most extreme policies haven’t been implemented. You’re comparing actual right-wing governance with your assumptions about what would happen under an ideology that wants to abolish law enforcement and effectively hand power to murderous mobs in the most powerful country in history. And that's just the start. Their literature is basically a full dismantling of everything that makes our country work. I take them seriously, as everyone else should too
Oh yeah, and the subhead was about France sorry if confusing - I've changed it to “civilization” to be technically correct with the headline
No, you're just preferring your personal narrative.
"America is still standing"? No, sadly. Our institutions are hollowed out, there is unprecedented corruption and a lack of checks and balances. There are literally military groups ripping people out of cars and disappearing them. You just haven't noticed it affect your daily life yet, which is often true of macro changes.
I suspect your opinion of MAGA would be different if you were a class they have targeted, like women or minorities. Your perspective speaks of privilege rather than reality.
Meanwhile, you are focused on another rising threat that also wouldn't affect your daily life immediately. These things take a long time to wear away everything that was built before, and by the time they do it's too late to do anything about it.
I agree socialism is bad and would lead to many very bad things. But you are pretending we don't face immediate and serious risks from the far right which have already arrived. They want you to be angry about another threat to avoid seeing what's happening right in front of you.
I'm optimistic about America. Like Warren Buffett, I think our institutions are resilient and will find balance. On our worst day, I'd still rather live here than in the UK, EU, Canada or Australia. I think we can address any current problems, and in fact there seems to always be will to, whereas other places frequently lack our dynamism. Anyway - genuinely hope our friends in EU can find domestic peace and balance
I am less optimistic about the US, but that's just personal opinions. You're optimistic about MAGA and pessimistic about socialism because that's your personal opinion. That's fine, as long as you admit it's an opinion and not an objective fact.
That's the problem with these articles, is that you play fast and loose with the difference.
"France built an immigration system that allowed nearly unlimited poorly vetted migration. They overwhelmingly refuse to deport even those who come there illegally and pose a risk to citizens or infrastructure, and they did little about the domestic radicalization that followed. Their left-wing radicals gladly partner with the religious radicals coming in. They do this everywhere (and are of course being used, AKA useful idiots)."
The number of dog whistles in your first paragraph is impressive. Immigration, however, has little — even remotely — to do with the cause and escalation of the riots (student protests over school conditions and cost of living, violent police response, protests turning to riots over said police response, agitators attaching themselves to said riots, etc. See: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/19/world/europe/france-protests-riots.html).
Unfortunately, I kept reading. Your entire piece is just a series of aggravated non sequiturs oscillating between immigrants, left wing radicals, socialism, academia, and the fall of civilization. You don't build any real or cogent argument for a position you might be trying to take. Sure, you bring up welfare spending, but there are a lot of countries with high welfare spending with little to no civil unrests (The Nordics, Singapore, etc.). There is no introspection here. There is no curiosity. There are so many euphemisms, so many insinuations, so many calls to fear in this jeremiad that it's honestly disheartening to read.